Thursday, September 04, 2008

For some reason, Big Ben has a thing about sirens. Any time an ambulance or a firetruck goes by anywhere near our house, even if it is very faint and in the distance, he howls like a wolf under the harvest moon. Well, with all the storms moving through the country right now, I guess they decided yesterday would be a good time to test the (very loud) tornado sirens in our neighborhood. This was the result....

Monday, September 01, 2008

Asleep like a pile of puppies on the sofa.Rooney posing while Natalie draws her portrait.

Natalie made a dress for Rooney out of tape and wrapping paper! How creative is this?They put on a little show for us, made the "curtain" and the stage themselves, and sang us the Baby Bumblebee song, which Natalie learned in Kindergarten and has taught to Rooney.Are they cute or what? Always up to something. I never know what to expect next. :)

Jesse and Jim took the girls camping at Lake Hartwell, which is on the border of Georgia and South Carolina. I think. This was a trip they took several weeks ago, and I forgot about the pictures until just now. Doh! They slept in a tent, spent their days on the boat and swimming, came home filthy, and had a BALL. Here are some highlights from the last day when I drove up just for the afternoon.The lake was l-o-w. That made for miles of extra shoreline that the girls could explore.

The DNR did a reptile show and brought all kinds of snakes and lizards for the kids to hold. This is an albino bearded dragon, enjoying the warm hand on his tummy. Very cute little guy.I forget what kind of snake this was, but he isn't the poisonous kind, although he was too fast moving to hold. And even non-venomous snakes will bite you.

Me holding a big red-tailed boa. They said he was around 9 feet (um, more like 6) and around 30 pounds (felt like twice that!!)

This was the view from the campsite down to the water where Jesse had the boat docked. I wish I'd gotten a shot of their tent and campsite. There were ducks walking around down there, so we had to go see them and watch the sunset.

You can see the stairway back up to the campsite. Where the girls are standing is usually underwater, but we are still suffering from the effects of a very prolonged drought. The girls had a great trip and Jesse and Jim got to spend some guy time together too, after I took the girlies home with me. They were asleep before we even got to the highway, mouths hanging open. All tuckered out from their big adventure with Daddy and GrandPap.